The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, on Wednesday, restated his position that government cannot continue to fund the constituency project of the National Assembly.

Lawal said this when he appeared before the Senate Joint Committee on Ethic, Appropriations and Finance. He noted that the revenues accruable to Nigeria were falling and is not even enough to fund the 2016 budget.

He pointed out that the country’s estimated revenue profile for 2016 had fallen to 50 percent, noting that constituency projects of the legislators have no direct impact on the people thus federal government had designed zonal projects that will have a direct impact on people.

Lawal said, “The statement is correct. That is my statement; we cannot guarantee the implementation of constituency projects in the 2016 budget.

“As a government, constituency projects are championed by members of the National Assembly. Like the legislature, members of the executive are politicians who canvassed for votes.

“Lawmakers are aware that oil barrels had dwindled to about 800,000 per day. This has led to the inability of government to finance the budget. It is the duty of government to prepare the minds of Nigerians ahead that there will be challenges in implementing the budget.

“Government based its principle on zero budgeting this year. Funds will be released to finance key projects in line with the implementation plans of the government. I will explain why it will be hard for the government to implement the budget.

“I spoke with the Minister of Budget this morning (Wednesday) and I asked him the revenue base of the government. We are now receiving about 50 to 60 earnings from what we projected.

“Some Ministries, Department and Agencies may find it impossible to implement projects appropriated in their budgets. We have to re-prioritise. I like us to understand that this is the background upon which I made that statement.”

Mazi Emeka